Despite playing the final few games in heavy drizzle the German ace recovered from a break in the seventh game to surge through 6-2, 6-4 against younger compatriot Maximillian Abel.

Elsewhere, top seed Carlos Moya crashed out of the tournament at the hands of another German, the unheralded Tomas Behrend.

Moya lost both sets on tie-breakers 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/2) as Behrend needed just one-hour 42 minutes to defeat his Spanish opponent.

Another of the favourites to crash out of the competition was Wimbledon semi-finalist Sebastien Grosjean who fell victim to Italian Filippo Volandri.

The French fourth seed failed to get going and picked up just three games in a 6-2, 6-1 loss.

Schuettler got caught up in a race against the weather, and looked like achieving that when leading a set and 4-2.

His subsequent break of serve was a stumble he didn't need, but one from which he recovered to end the affair in just over an hour.

"I wanted to finish before the rain," said the world number eight, who is aiming for a top five standing and a place in the year-end Masters Cup in Houston.

"It was a stupid break, but I got it back. I played good tennis, overall, it was a solid performance," added the third seed.

Behrend claimed his second major clay-court scalp of the season as he stunned the top seeded Moya to earn a meeting with big-serving Max Mirnyi of Belarus on Thursday.

Less than two months ago, the 28-year-old Behrend, ranked 98th in the world, beat former world number one Marcelo Rios at the World Team Championship in Dusseldorf.

Moya, ranked fourth, has had a disappointing two weeks on his favoured clay surface after crashing out in the semi-finals in a vain bid to defend his title last week in Baastad.

Behrend said some early luck turned the match his way.

"I feel sensational," he said after levelling his 2003 mark at seven wins and seven losses. "I risked a lot.

"I had to play aggressive or I had no chance against him. I got a little lucky in the first set - at 6-5 his missed some easy forehands.

"I played a great tie-break and that got me thinking that maybe I had a chance to win."

Volandri's victory over Grosjean avenged a loss the 21-year-old took in Hamburg in May.

"When I lost then, I had just come from Rome where I had played a lot of matches," said the world Number 60.

"I played a lot better today."

Last week's Gstaad winner Jiri Novak rolled on winning 6-4, 6-4 over Armenian Sargis Sargsian.

But Spain's David Ferrer defeated 16th seed Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia 7-6 (7/3), 6-1.